The Dutch football association KNVB has reached a deal with the women's national football team on more pay, which it says will allow the internationals to focus more on their sport.
The deal runs until the end of the 2019 World Cup. This summer Oranje won the European title.
'Our players deserve this,' director Jan Dirk van der Zee said. 'It is in recognition of the position which the Dutch women are now in.'
'If they are selected for an international, they will get a bigger stipend and the bonuses for qualification and progression in tournaments has also been increased sharply,' Van der Zee told website Nu.nl while declining to name amounts.
The team have also become more interesting to sponsors since winning the European title and talks are underway with several companies, the KNVB director confirmed.
'We've also agreed a contract with Talpa to broadcast their games... a few years ago it cost money to organise a women's international,' he said.
Equal pay
Last month, top Dutch player Vivianne Miedema called for the KNVB to pay equal fees to players who are called up for the men’s and women’s national teams.
The Arsenal striker pointed out that the women’s team won the European championships last summer whereas the men have failed to qualify for the last two international tournaments, yet are still paid more.
Miedema said in a reaction to Tuesday's news: 'They were tough discussions at times but we are very happy with what has been agreed. We are going to do our absolute best to make 2018 a successful year and qualify for the 2019 World Cup.' More >

Sports clubs have to do much more to prevent the sexual abuse of their young members, which is far more prevalent than thought, according to a special commission set up by the Dutch sports body NOC*NSF.
The commission, led by former minister Klaas de Vries, says that one in eight children and teenagers have experienced at least one incident of unwanted sexual attention and 4% say they have been assaulted and raped.
The commission bases its conclusions on hundreds of incident reports, expert opinion and interviews with 30 victims.
In particular, the commission looked at 686 cases of sexual intimidation and abuse which were made to the sports association’s various hotlines between 2001 and 2017. That showed 60% of victims were under the age of 16 and in 70% of cases, the attacker was coach or team leader.
Most incidents took place at football clubs, followed by swimming and gymnastics clubs.
Register
The commission says sports clubs should be required by law to register all reported incidents. This would mean that incidents which are not criminal offences would have to be dealt with by the clubs themselves, rather than ignored, the commission said.
The current official blacklist of coaches includes just three names, the commission pointed out.
The NOC*NSF was prompted to launch the investigation after hundreds of footballers came forward in Britain to talk about being abused by trainers. And last December, Dutch cyclist Petra de Bruin told Nieuwsuur she had been abused by her trainer for years. More >

Amsterdam football club Ajax has signed 19-year-old Boureima Hassane Bandé on a five year contract after agreeing terms with Belgian side KV Mechelen.
Ajax beat off competition from PSV, Manchester United, Porto, Anderlecht and Arsenal for the teenager. He has scored nine times in 15 matches for his current club, which he joined at the beginning of this season and three weeks ago he made his debut for Burkina Faso.
Bandé will join Ajax next summer. 'I'm really happy with the move... but first I have a mission to complete with KV Mechelen,' he said.
Ajax did not reveal financial details but the Telegraaf suggests the transfer fee could be as high as €9.5m.
More >

Ajax has agreed to help leading Chinese football club Guangzhou R&F develop the next generation of players, in a deal worth €2 million a year to the Amsterdam club.
Ajax will use its successful Ajax Coaching Academy (ACA) formula to build what Guangzhou hopes will be the best youth development facility in China. In return, Ajax hopes the extra cash will help it to close the gap that has opened up in recent seasons between Europe's top clubs and its minor leagues.
'All facets of our youth development, such as scouting, nurturing talent and all the supporting departments will be available,' the club said in an official statement.
The deal is for an initial period of five years, with an option to extend it for a further five years. Four coaches will move from Amsterdam to China, headed by former women's coach Ed Engelkes, who has been appointed technical director.
Ajax's technical director Edwin van der Sar said the agreement would be good for both clubs. 'Youth development has been extremely important for decades in everything we do at Ajax,' he said.
More >

The winner of the KNVB cup football competition may no longer automatically qualify for the Europa League competition in 2019 because of the poor performance of Dutch clubs this season, website Nu.nl said on Friday.
Earlier this month, the Netherlands lost automatic placement in the Champions League competition for the Dutch league winner in 2019.
Although Vitesse managed to draw 1-1 against Lazio in the Europa League competition on Thursday evening, the Czech Republic is now just behind the Netherlands in the Uefa rankings. And with three clubs in European competition, the chances are high that the Czech Republic will move into 12th place, Nu.nl said.
The ranking determines how many clubs get a ticket to European competition and at what stage of the tournament they join in.
If the Czech Republic moves into 12th place, the Dutch cup winner will have to go through two qualifying rounds to make the group stage of the Europa League. More >